Puppetmaster
by Karu Leonnese
Summary: In which five paths intersect seemingly randomly. The paths of five people that change the future. [pastficceh]
1. Coin Operated Boy

Puppetmaster

by Karu Leonnese and Gabriella Morrel

Prologue: Coin-Operated Boy

Notes: This was originally written for our doujinshi to sell at OhayoCon (anyone going might wanna check us out under CrackFish Productions. We're the cheapest table there!), but I wanted to expand on the idea to include some other characters. Everyone knows I'm an Amarant fan, and he prolly won't beh in the doujin at all.

So here's my chance to do strange things to your head. And my chance to write in Treno again. -grins- And in case anyone's wondering, the songs I used for the dancing are tracks 19 and 21 from the Saiyuki first season disc. Awesome stuff.

Warnings: Um…chara abuse, language, shounen (and maybeh shoujo)-ai, and a whole lotta other stuff that'll come in later. I also might beh taking some liberties with the actual story. I'm not quite clear on the whole Treno flashback thing. So if I screw something up, just go with it, or tell meh if I REALLY screwed it up. Enjoy!

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He heard the music, but He never saw it. Kuja said Treno was full of music, all kinds and at all times of the day and night. Treno was the town that never sleeps, he said. He wondered vaguely how everyone survived if they didn't sleep. If Kuja didn't sleep, he got really angry. Granted, he was usually a bit angry even when he did sleep, but there was a noticeable difference.

Kuja never let Him see the music. They were always too busy to go find it. Kuja liked the Auction House. He liked to watch the people there bid on things, but he never wanted anything there himself. No, that wasn't right. A few times he actually did find something interesting enough to want. And those few times he did, he always won. He guessed that people were too afraid of Kuja to keep bidding. He was afraid of Kuja too.

On this particular night, the Auction House was full. People were shouting over each other to be heard by the Auctioneer, shouting to own things they probably wanted just because someone else did. Sometimes Kuja helped by bidding on an item no one else seemed to want. Once everyone saw that someone wanted it, they usually did too. He thought it was strange, but He thought a lot of things people did were strange.

He heard the music on that particular night, from somewhere nearby. He didn't know much about music, only what Kuja had explained to Him when he was in a good mood. Kuja liked music too. He listened to something he called Classical. He thought it was very pretty. But this kind of music He heard at Treno was different. It was fast and loud, and it sounded like someone was singing as well. He knew a few instruments people used to make music, and He could have sworn He heard violin and drums. He liked it instantly, and wanted to see who was playing such wonderful music.

He looked up at Kuja. His master was busy with the auction, standing up in the wings, watching the people. He was on the ground floor, by the front entrance. He knew there was a small side door they always kept open, in case someone was late and didn't want to interrupt the auction. Quietly, He moved towards the door, and after one final glance to see His master wasn't watching Him, He slipped out the door into the Treno streets.

It was always night in Treno. He supposed that's why no one ever slept. He had trouble sleeping when He didn't know whether it was day or night. But there were always streetlights in Treno as well, so He could see just fine. The music was still playing, but there was a new instrument as well. He didn't recognize this one, but it made Him want to dance. Kuja had never taught Him to dance, but He knew what dancing was.

He followed the music, turning around when it got quieter, and moving forward when it got louder. Finally He reached a small tower, where the music seemed to be all He could hear. He poked his head inside, careful not to lose His hat.

Inside was something amazing. People were playing the instruments, making the music, and others were dancing to it. It didn't look like the dancing Kuja had showed Him, but it looked like fun.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice shouted over the music. He turned to his side to find a boy with blond hair standing beside Him, smiling at Him. "You like the music?"

Surprised, He nodded. He wondered if He would get in trouble, being here without permission. But the boy showed no anger. The boy was taller than He was, and knelt so they were face to face. "Do you wanna come inside?"

He blinked, before nodding again. The boy stood, grabbing Him by the hand. His eyes widened as He was pulled inside, to the center of the tower. The boy started dancing, this new kind that involved rolling your shoulders and hips around. He was transfixed, watching the boy and listening to the music. They seemed to act as one, like the music was commanding the boy with unspoken words.

The song ended, and the boy stopped. A new song started, and the boy looked at Him. "Do you know how to dance?"

He shook His head. the boy grinned. "Just do what I do, okay?"

He nodded, watching him again. The boy started moving, rolling his shoulders and hips in time to the music's drum beat. He tried to do just that, listening to the music around Him and trying to hear its words. Beside Him, the boy laughed. "You're doing great!"

He kept doing this, moving to the music, wherever the music told Him to move. By the end of the song, He felt a rush He'd usually only felt when He was scared. But He wasn't scared this time. His heart was racing and He couldn't stop moving, but He wasn't scared.

The boy grabbed His hand again, leading Him to the wall of the tower. The people started playing a new song, and part of Him wanted to keep dancing. But He was curious as to where this boy was leading Him now. The boy leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. He found He was out of breath as well, and joined the boy.

"So what do you think?" the boy asked finally.

He tilted his head. What did He think? Kuja never asked Him His opinion on anything. "It…It was wonderful."

The boy beamed. "I know, it's great, isn't it? I love it out here. We don't get many visitors thought. People usually stay away from this part of town."

He wondered why anyone would want to be away from this music and this feeling. People did strange things sometimes. Beside Him, something moved slowly. Looking down, He noticed the boy had a tail. This wasn't strange to Him. Kuja had a tail too, though he tried not to show it. He had seen it accidentally a few times, but He didn't say anything.

"Why aren't you hiding your tail?" He asked before He knew the words were coming out.

The boy's face flushed. "What?"

He winced. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. It wasn't my place. I just wondered why you didn't hide your tail like my master does."

Now the boy looked confused. "Master? What, do you mean your parents?"

Parents? Those people he saw who took care of smaller people. "I-I suppose you could say he's my parent. He created me."

The boy offered him a lopsided grin. "That's an odd way to think about it. Anyway, I don't need to hide my tail. I think it's cool."

He nodded again.

"My name's Zidane," he continued. "What's yours?"

He frowned. "I…I don't think I have a name."

"You don't have a name? What does everyone call you?"

"W-Well, my master calls me 'Puppet' sometimes. Most of the time no one calls me anything."

Zidane made a face. "That's not right. Everyone should have a name. Do you want me to give you one?"

He was shocked. No one ever gave Him anything, except for Kuja, and that was on a very rare occurrence. "You can do that?"

Zidane shrugged. "Sure. Let's see…what should we call you…"

Before he could say anything else, someone ran up to them. This boy had wild red hair that stuck straight up. "Hey Zidane! Is this that Vivi chick you were talking about?"

Zidane glared at the new boy. "Blank, you ass. Her name was Bebe, and I told you I broke up with her!"

Blank shrugged. "Don't blame me if we can't keep your many girlfriends from running into each other."

"This isn't even a girl. This is—HEY!" Zidane suddenly yelled, surprising both Him and Blank. They turned to him curiously. "That's what we'll call you! Vivi!"

He blinked. Vivi?

"Do you like it? Cuz we can call you something else if you don't…"

"Vivi…it-it sounds nice. I like it," Vivi smiled. "Thank you."

"THERE YOU ARE!" a voice roared from the tower entrance. Vivi's eyes widened in fear. He knew that voice.

Kuja stormed in, not caring whether he was invited or not. Grabbing Vivi roughly by the arm, he began to drag the boy out. "I cannot believe you ran away. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

Zidane jumped up, following them. "Hey, take it easy. It was my fault."

Kuja stopped, staring at Zidane with undisguised hatred. "Do you usually go around taking things that don't belong to you?"

Zidane opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. Then a thought hit him. "Why are you talking about him like he's a toy or something?"

Kuja smiled, an oddly calm look replacing the wild gleam in his eyes. "Because that's exactly what he is. Now you'd best leave us alone, before I have Salamander come up here and break up this little band of yours."

Zidane was angry now. Vivi watched him from Kuja's grip, silently pleading his new friend to give up before he got hurt. Kuja didn't like anyone who got in his way. "And just who the hell is Salamander?"

A tall figure loomed in the doorway of the tower. Vivi had never seen someone so big. He was taller than Kuja or Zidane, and had wilder hair than Blank, a dark red colour that hid his eyes almost completely. The huge man crossed his arms. "I'm Salamander."

Zidane stopped short. He knew if he kept this up, Vivi would wind up getting hurt because of it. And he didn't want that. He sighed. "Whatever. Sorry Vivi."

Vivi almost started to cry. Zidane wasn't worried about himself at all. "Thank you Zidane. It was wonderful music."

Zidane smiled sadly and nodded. He watched as the silver-haired man that was Vivi's master drag the boy outside. Salamander followed uncaringly, leaving the scene deadly quiet.

The music didn't play again that night.

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Karu: Wow that was sad. Um, I'm basing 'Salamander' off Kurumi's awesome ficcehlet of Amarant's past, so everyone should go read that. And try listening to Saiyuki music while reading this. All the titles are in Japanese, so I can't tell you any specific ones. But the ones I was listening to the most are the oriental-feeling ones. Makes for a great time.

Anyway, until next update!


	2. Flaming Salamander

Chapter Two: Flaming Salamander

Notes: Hope you all are enjoying this. –grins- It's very inconvenient to type things in a library. But it's all for a good cause! This chappeh, if you can't tell, is about our favourite antisocial bounty hunter! And in this installment, we introduce Lani! She's so awesome, I just had to put her in! This is my first time writing for her, so tell meh if I did okay?

Again, many liberties are taken with the actual game flashbacks. Artistic license. And a lot of reference to Devilish Kurumi's ficceh 'Eight Words'. Read it and beh amused children.

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He'd done some pretty stupid things in his life. But right about now, he'd figured being here had to be one of the more meaningful ones. Not here as in currently. Currently, sitting in a Treno bar and getting comfortably buzzed was the best idea he'd had all day. But coming here to work, that was another story.

Salamander had been working since he'd left home. He couldn't keep a job for too long. It always wound up the same, with him leaving town, only to pick up somewhere else. He figured he had a restless spirit, and who was he to deny it? He wasn't picky about work, so jobs were never hard to find.

But this one had been a mistake. Like most mistakes, the option had seemed like a good idea at the time. A security position was perfect for him. Working alone was always a plus, and every now and again, he got to rough up a few punks.

Meeting Kuja changed his mind.

The silver-haired nutcase usually hung around the Auction House. Salamander was NOT security for the Auction House, but Kuja either didn't notice or didn't care. And once he knew Kuja, Salamander assumed it was the latter. But he seemed to be on close terms with his employer, so Salamander really had no choice. It was either that or take off, and Treno's shady atmosphere still held an attraction for him.

So, when Kuja stormed up to him, yelling about his Mage was missing, Salamander had little choice but to go help him when he asked. Salamander had seen the Mage before. Kuja took him to the Auction House all the time. From what he gathered, the Mage was a boy, but the huge floppy hat it wore hid its face.

Salamander hadn't really cared. He'd been excited when they found him in the thieves' tower. He'd been itching for a fight, and the monkey-tailed blond punk had made an interesting prospect. But the scene had ended peacefully for the most part. At least for him.

Beside him, Lani was babbling about whatever it was women babble about when they think men re paying attention. But to her credit, Lani wasn't your typical woman. She reached over and slapped him in the back of the head. Salamander turned on her.

"Dammit woman! What the hell was that for!"

Lani stuck out her tongue, the picture of maturity. "Because you're ignoring me, you ass. Anyway, I was saying I think you should change your name."

"What? Why the hell would I do that?"

"Word's starting to get around about the 'incident' in Alexandria," she replied matter-of-factly.

Salamander rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his drink. "You mean the 'incident' where you went home and your parents were convinced I had kidnapped and brainwashed their precious daughter? The one where they called a hit on me?" he drawled.

"Exactly! That's the one!"

He stood, heading for the door. He didn't check to see if Lani would follow, but he knew she would. She didn't disappoint him. The air outside was cool, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Lani, in case you haven't noticed, I'm dying for a good fight. So if someone's looking for me, I'd rather take them on than take the coward's way out."

She frowned, looking up at him. "You're going to get yourself killed."

He smiled. "Wouldn't that be interesting?"

Lani growled in long-suffering frustration. "Salamander Coral, just what am I supposed to do with you?"

Salamander shrugged. "You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll figure something out."

He waved her off, heading to work. For awhile she just stood there, clenching and unclenching her fists.

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He had a feeling there would be trouble. It was a fighter's intuition, that little nagging voice in the back of his mind. Maybe Lani was right. Sure, a fight was the ultimate adrenaline rush, but there was a time to fight, and a time to strategize. Lani's parents were pretty powerful people, and powerful people always knew the dangerous people.

But as it turned out, the threat didn't come from some hired thug hiding behind a corner. Salamander might have felt better if it had. Instead, the threat came from a small annoying monkey-tailed boy. A thing Salamander would later see becoming a pattern.

To be completely honest, Salamander really didn't blame the kid. Hell, in another position, he probably would've watched the whole thing and laughed. Rich people were so stupid, thinking they could gloat and show off all their pretty things. Didn't they know Treno was full of thieves?

But regardless of his personal feelings, he'd been hired to protect the house and its contents. And he'd be damned before he'd let a skinny little monkey get the better of him.

The other guards were yelling when he approached the building. This didn't bother him. Those guys were always yelling at everyone that walked by that wasn't noble or could kick their ass.

Salamander turned the corner only to crash into a blue and blond blur. He was small, but the speed of the collision knocked Salamander over. In front of him, the boy got to his feet.

"Stop thief!" the guards yelled, starting to run after him.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, he looked at Salamander. Recognition flashed in his eyes, followed by a glare. "You…"

"Didn't you learn your lesson last time, kid?" Salamander picked himself up.

He put his hands on his hips. "Actually I did," he turned to were the guards were just rounding the corner. "He's over here!"

"What the hell are you doing?" he took a step back.

The guards reached the scene. The monkey backed against the wall. "It's him! He just robbed that house and he tried to mug me too!"

"Thanks kid. We'll take it from here. Go on home," one of the guards shooed him off.

Salamander watched incredulously. "Who are you?"

"I'm Zidane," the boy smirked, "And that was for Vivi."

He ran off, leaving the redhead with the two advancing guards.

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Salamander pounded on the door. The innkeeper had said Lani was staying here. Slowly, she opened the door a crack. "Who the hell is it?"

"It's me. Hurry up before I made a nice old man have to get new carpet."

Lani opened the door and he hurried in, shutting and locking it behind him. "Salamander? What's wrong?"

"About what you said…about changing my name…"

She looked him over, concerned. He was bleeding from a few places, but the biggest one seemed to be from a large gash across his shoulder, which was dripping a bit too much blood. He had a few bruises as well. Certainly not the worst she'd seen him look, but it still worried her. "What happened?"

"The fucking monkey framed me!"

Lani nodded. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

He frowned, struggling out of his ripped shirt. "Are you gonna help me or not?"

She sighed, reaching into her pack for the first aid kit she'd learned never to be without. "Okay, okay," she began, dabbing a wet cloth over the most severe cut. "How about…Bob?"

He didn't dignify it with a response, only glaring at her.

"I'm only kidding," she finished cleaning the wound, bandaging it before she continued. "What about Amarant?"

He blinked. "Where'd you get that from?"

"It's for 'red', right?"

Salamander nodded. "I just didn't know you knew that."

Lani grinned. "You'd be surprised."

"Whatever."

She put the kit aside, propping herself up against his side. "So Amarant. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

The Flaming Amarant. Sounded pretty good. "There was this monkey-tailed kid, said his name was Zidane…"

Amarant coral told his story.

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End! Okay, so how do you like the rewrite? Whose psyche do we screw with next? YOURS! It's review time! -pushes in direction of the button-


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